Yale to Host “White Out for Mandi” Hockey Game at Ingalls Rink Saturday, Jan. 26

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's ice hockey team is dedicating its game at Ingalls Rink on Saturday, Jan. 26, to Mandi Schwartz '10 (1988-2011), utilizing the game vs. Colgate as a fundraiser for the Mandi Schwartz Foundation. Aleca Hughes '12, Yale's former captain, started the charity in memory of Mandi, the Bulldogs center who passed away in April 2011 after battling cancer for more than two years. The goal is to pack Ingalls Rink, with everyone wearing white, as a "White Out for Mandi" show of support.

The team is currently lining up pledges from donors based on the attendance total, so each person that shows up helps raise money for the cause. No admission will be charged, and donations for the Foundation will also be accepted at the door. Special white t-shirts will be sold, and youth hockey teams are encouraged to come wearing white jerseys. The Bulldogs will honor Mandi in a special pre-game ceremony.

The event will also help raise awareness of the need for marrow donors and umbilical cord blood donors. In an effort to save her life, Mandi had a stem cell transplant utilizing blood from two anonymous umbilical cord blood donations. Stem cells for patients with life-threatening illnesses like Mandi's can also come from marrow donors. Yale hosts an annual Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive every spring to add potential donors to the Be The Match® Registry. To date, at least 14 matches for patients in need of transplants have been identified through those efforts. One of those matches was a Yale field hockey player, senior Lexy Adams.

The attendance record for a women's hockey game at Ingalls Rink is 1,539, set on Nov. 1, 2005, when Team USA played an exhibition game against the ECAC Hockey All-Stars. The first "White Out for Mandi" drew a crowd of 1,066, the most ever for a Yale women's hockey game. The capacity of Ingalls Rink is 3,500.